1. Field of the Invention
To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a ‘Beyond 4G Network’ or a ‘Post LTE System’. The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like. In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access(NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed.
The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as “sensing technology”, “wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure”, “service interface technology”, and “Security technology” have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as a sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication may be implemented by beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) as the above-described Big Data processing technology may also be considered to be as an example of convergence between the 5G technology and the IoT technology.
The present invention relates generally to a device and method for subscribing to a network in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a device and method for automatically transferring an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card IDentifier (eUICC ID) value of a terminal to a network provider subscription server in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that inserts into and is used in a mobile communication terminal as a smart card. The UICC stores personal information of a mobile communication subscriber and enables safe use of mobile communication by performing subscriber authentication and generation of a traffic security key when accessing a mobile communication network.
The UICC is produced as an exclusive card for a corresponding provider by a request of a mobile communication provider, and when producing a card, authentication information, for example, a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), and a K value, for access to a network of the corresponding provider is previously mounted in the card, and the card is launched. Therefore, a corresponding mobile communication provider receives delivery of the produced UICC card to provide the UICC card to a subscriber, and the subscriber performs management such as installation, adjustment, and deletion of an application within the UICC using technology such as Over The Air (OTA), as needed. The subscriber may insert the UICC card into a mobile communication terminal and use the UICC card in a network and an application service of a corresponding mobile communication provider. When replacing the terminal, by inserting the UICC card from an existing terminal to a new terminal, the subscriber may use authentication information, a mobile communication phone number, and a personal phonebook stored in the UICC card in the new terminal.
The UICC card has a physical shape and a logical function defined by a standardization organization of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and maintains international compatibility. With regard to form factor, the UICC card comes in gradually reduced sizes from the most widely used Mini SIM to a Micro SIM and to a recent Nano SIM. Thereby, the UICC card contributes much to reducing the size of a mobile communication terminal, but it is difficult to standardize a UICC card of a size smaller than the recently produced Nano SIM due to the possibility of loss by a user, and in view of a detachable UICC card, a space for mounting a detachable slot to the terminal is required and thus it is difficult to form a detachable UICC card in a smaller size.
In order to solve such a problem, when producing a mobile communication terminal, a security module that performs a function similar to the UICC is housed in the terminal and it is requested that the security module replace the UICC. Therefore, an embedded UICC structure which cannot be detached is suggested.
An embedded UICC (eUICC) may be mounted in a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device requiring access to a mobile communication data network without a person's direct manipulation in various installation environments such as an intelligent household product, an electricity/water supply meter, and a Closed Circuit TeleVision (CCTV) camera. Further, recently, it is suggested to apply the eUICC to a user terminal. However, at present, a network subscription procedure for a user terminal having the eUICC is not suggested. Therefore, an alternative for a network subscription for a user terminal having the eUICC is needed.